mining execs in jail this time
and Muslim girls back in school
Hi there,
I’m sending this edition from the beautiful city of Chiang Mai, in Thailand, where I came to attend Splice Beta, my favorite gathering of people in media. I’ll have more details on this year’s event by next week, but for now, I’m keeping this edition on the short side so I can sleep before tomorrow comes (a reality I face almost every Monday).
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has released its annual report on the rights of refugees in the country, and I’ll be including it in the coming editions (Ethiopia is home to over a million refugees - the second largest refugee-hosting country in Africa after Uganda).
To new subscribers, welcome!
My name is Maya Misikir, and I’m a freelance reporter based in Addis Abeba. I write Sifter, this newsletter where I send out the week’s top 5 stories on human rights and news in Ethiopia.
Now, to the news.
Mining: executives in jail
Last year in September, I wrote up an update here, about an investigation into Lithium exploration and mining in Ethiopia (“the fight for control over this license by companies, and the unmet promises by said companies after they secure these extremely sought-after licenses”).
The story, covered by The Reporter, looked into Kenticha Mining Plc, which had come under scrutiny for not delivering on its promised work, despite getting this coveted license from the Ministry of Mines. The follow-up story a month later revealed that one of the unmet promises included a payment of 38.1 million U.S. dollars to the regional government.
An official corruption probe has now been launched against the company, and the general manager, Ali Hussein (a man of many hats), has been detained, according to the latest investigation by The Reporter.
Here’s an excerpt on that from the story:
Prosecutors at the Oromia Attorney General’s Bureau are looking into possible fraud in Kenticha Mining’s licensing process amid allegations the company acquired concessions for lithium and tantalum extraction without fulfilling qualification requirements or undergoing the necessary due diligence.
The investigation also includes a probe into allegations of embezzlement involving USD 38 million the managers received from foreign investors, according to a source close to the matter.
The full story on The Reporter (whose editor-in-chief was himself taken to jail weeks ago for doing investigative stories on Ethiopia’s mining sector), here.
Parliamentary address: some ‘highlights’
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister addressed parliamentarians last week Thursday. The notable things brought up in his speech included that “Ethiopia deserves sea access according to any law”. This is about the port agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland, signed in January. I’ve written updates on this deal, which has tanked Ethiopia’s popularity in the region.
But even despite the recent expulsion of an Ethiopian diplomat by Somalia’s government, it looks like the deal is here to stay.
Here’s an excerpt taken from the Prime Minister’s speech on Bloomberg:
“We do not seek war, nor do we want to achieve this forcefully,” he said. “There are concerns that certain countries could invade Ethiopia, but no country is capable of undermining us. We have sufficient capacity to defend ourselves.”
Foreign diplomatic missions were also implicated in illicit financial activity during his speech, including ‘illegal forex trade’. But it’s not just embassies that have been accused, banks, ‘officials in the government, individuals and companies’ were all given warnings for smuggling.
Also part of his speech were forecasts of growth, some of which, ‘contradict data from other sources, including government agencies’ according to a story by The Reporter.
The full story on Bloomberg, here.
Security: we don’t know her (XXXII)
Civilians have been caught in the crossfire yet again as fighting continues between the federal government and Fano, the informal militia operating out of the country’s Amhara region.
Several people have died across the region’s three zones — South Wollo, East Gojjam, and Awi — according to a story by Addis Standard.
After hours of active shooting, a resident in the story said, ‘security forces detained a number of young people from various neighborhoods’.
Here’s an excerpt:
The fighting lasted all day, marked by the audible sounds of heavy gunfire and Kalashnikovs. People remained locked indoors and in churches” he said, adding that at least six civilians were killed in their area alone that day.
The resident also mentioned a significant military presence in the area, with many people fleeing to rural areas out of fear of further clashes.
This is part of the updates on the conflict in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, which started last year in August. You can find the full chronologically arranged list here.
The full story on Addis Standard, here.
Security: no internet, no mobile service
The fighting in Ethiopia’s Oromia region is between the federal government and another armed group, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). While this has been ongoing since 2019, residents across different parts of the region have intermittent access to internet and mobile service, depending on how intense the fighting is at the time.
Last week, fighting in the Guji zone resulted in another round of phone and internet network shutdowns in the area according to a story by VOA. Disruptions in connectivity are affecting many parts of the region, some of which have been going on for months.
In areas like North Shewa, schools have had to transfer students to other areas because accessing materials online has become impossible, including sending grades of graduating students to government bureaus.
Here’s an excerpt from what’s happening in another area:
Journalists have waited for hours to speak to residents in Kelem Welega Zone, whose network is down during morning hours. One resident traveled to Dembi Dolo, about 620 kilometers west of the capital, Addis Ababa, to speak with the media about the network outages.
The full story, on VOA, here.
Women’s rights: girls back to school
Four schools in Addis Abeba have reversed their decision to suspend Muslim students because of their religious covering, according to a story by Addis Standard.
This happened after the Addis Abeba Islamic Affairs Council appealed this move by schools in the city to the city’s Education Bureau, saying that the decision did not have legal backing.
An agreement was reached after a ‘wave of public concern regarding the treatment of these students’, and a high-level discussion between the ‘Addis Abeba Peace and Security Bureau, the city Police, and the Education Bureau’.
The agreement? ‘permitting Muslim students…to return to their studies.’
The full story on Addis Standard, here.
That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more updates!
In the meantime, feel free to share this with anyone you think can benefit from keeping up with what’s going on in Ethiopia.
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